RAISING OUR LAND (S2 EP 1- THE KINGDOMS)

RAISING OUR LAND

“Thus says the LORD, In an acceptable time have I answered you, and in a day of salvation have I helped you; and I will preserve you, and give you for a covenant of the people, to raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritage…”(emphasis mine)

Isiah 49 vs 8 (Hebrew Names Version of The Holy Bible)

WELCOME TO SEASON 2 FOLKS.

I would like a hundred people or more to join me in praying this prayer, based on the scripture that says “And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. Lev 26:8” 

The enemies we need defeated in our lives presently are: the veil which may be over our eyes: as it prevents the light of God’s word to enlighten and be sown in our hearts; and those obstacles that prevent our hearts from being good soils. Our swords are our words of prayer. 

Therefore, the prayer goes thus:

We pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: that our minds may be opened to see and receive his light, so that we will know what is the hope to which he has called us.

We also pray that God should by His Holy Spirit prepare our hearts by making it a good soil for the word of God which when planted in our hearts will grow and prosper and yield forth good fruits just as a seed would in good soil. And that by the Blood of Jesus, we clean every heart from whatever may be present within which would negatively affect the growth and prosperity of the Word of God in our lives in Jesus Name, Amen.

 

 

EPISODE 1: THE KINGDOMS

A thought…

Assuming an individual whose name is John Doe is born in captivity.  Mr Doe has been isolated from the world from birth. No information from the outside has ever reached him; no education; no friends… absolutely nothing! All Mr Doe received from birth is food, clothing and shelter. Now imagine if Mr Doe, after about 24 years in captivity, is released to a settlement to live in communion with other people, how do you think He will function? Will He be able to achieve anything in that settlement? He being without education, unable to communicate, without a skill of any kind to trade with, without an understanding of the laws that governs the settlement; will Mr Doe not prefer to go back to captivity, where everything makes sense to him?

Now imagine that that settlement is filled with numerous John Does and Jane Does. The result: Absolute Chaos!!!

Hold that thought!

A remixed True Life Story…

This story is very loosely based on a NBC News publication.

CAPRIANNA

Cinderlily was only 17 years old when she was kidnapped at the bus stop. She knew she shouldn’t have disobeyed her parents’ warning not to hitch rides with strangers. But it was 7.30 pm, the bus was running late, and this guy was particularly charming and looked like he couldn’t hurt a fly. So she felt, heck what could happen, after all my parents aren’t here, so they wouldn’t know about it. Unfortunately for her, that ‘charming guy’ was Darth Mort: A serial kidnapper, who had been watching her for quite some time now. When she got in the car, somehow he was able to render her unconscious, and took her to his cabin located deep in the woods, far away from prying eyes. He locked her up in an inner room, in the basement of his cabin. He did terrible things to her.

In Cinderlily’s fourth year of captivity, she got pregnant for the evil Darth, and was delivered of a baby girl, who she named Caprianna.

For Cinderlily, this was a terrible situation. Here she was captured and being abused by an evil man, and now her beautiful daughter Caprianna, birth in captivity, will have to live in same way. There was no reasoning or pleading with him, as for as he was concerned, they were his properties, for him to do as he determines.

She grew desperate, not for herself but for her daughter who was now 6 years old and who saw the four walls of their prison room as the only world that existed. The stories her mother told of the blue sky, the beautiful trees, beautiful beaches, and so on were just tall tales to Caprianna. Her 6 year-old baby was even beginning to find the four walled room comfortable, adapting to it, and believing nothing existed outside of the the room. This was troubling! And so Cinderlily did something she never really knew how to do. She prayed! She prayed that God would send someone stronger than her captor, to rescue and save her and Caprianna.

Detective Luke Potter has had no rest nor breakthrough in solving the very mysterious Cinderlily White kidnapping. He still remembers the case like it just happened yesterday. Cinderlily was a beautigul high school cheerleader who was taken from her loved ones one evening, about 10 years ago. He was the lead detective on the case, and had solved various cases since then, but this particular kidnapping was elusive. During his investigation he had been able to narrow down possible hideouts of the kidnapper(s) to six different locations. But none was successful. His colleagues had given up, and he was about to give up too when he stumbled on the clue that led him to the seventh location. He had a gut feeling that this location must be the one he had been searching for, and this ten-year-nightmare will end.

He drove his pick-up truck unto the trail leading deeper into the woods. The satellite imagery of the area showed that there should be a cabin up ahead. Surely, about 150 meters ahead, the silhouette of a house emerged. He switched off his engine, picked up his service revolver and went stealthily towards the cabin. Not knowing what he would face, he thought of calling for backup, but decided against it, at the previous wrong locations, his colleagues had given up and ridiculed him. It was not wise to call them up, only to reveal a squeaky old cabin.

Darth Mort was asleep when he heard the sound of a car engine. Quickly, he picked up his rifle and stood in his stake out position. This may only be hunters looking for games to hunt, he thought to himself; perhaps I should go back to bed. He was about to give up when he saw the silhouette of a man in the distance walking stealthily with his face set towards the cabin. I am not taking any risks, this could be a cop; he said to himself, he aimed his rifle to the heart of the oncoming man and squeezed the trigger.

As Detective Luke Potter came along the path towards the house, as quietly as he could, he suddenly tripped his leg around a fallen branch, at the same time he heard the crack of a gunshot and felt hot pain as a slug hit his right arm.

Darth believing he had hit his target with a kill shot came unwarily down the path looking for his kill.

Luke, hearing the on-coming foot falls picked himself up and hid behind a tree. But his right arm was no longer useful. That was his gun hand.

As soon as Darth got to the point where he expected his kill to lay, he became alarmed by the empty ground and saw only drops of blood. Quickly, he tried to get back into the cabin and take cover; Detective Luke was upon him in a twinkling. They fought hard, both being good fighters, but Darth overpowered Detective Luke, with one hand he squeezed hard at the injury on the Luke’s right arm and with the other, he wrapped tight against the Detective’s neck, choking him. Luke on the verge of losing consciousness forever, searched blindly for any weapon on the ground, he found a chunk of log. Picking it up and with his almost abated strength; smashed it on Darth’s head with all his might, rendering both he and Darth unconscious.

Detective Luke took a few sharp breaths to dispel the drowsiness, the loss of blood was beginning to take its toll; He must have been out for just a few minutes, Darth still laid beside him, knocked out cold. He took out his cuffs, secured Darth and moved quickly but carefully towards the house. He took out his mobile phone and called for back-up and an ambulance.

The cabin was dark, musty and smelly. Luke carefully checked around for other assailants, and most importantly for Cinderlily. He found neither.

Cinderlily heard the gunshot and then … silence. And then she heard the scuffle, and … silence! She heard the foot falls of someone walking on the floor above her. There is something weird about the way Darth is walking she thought. What if; no it couldn’t be. But this doesn’t sound like Darth’s walking, if this is somebody that has come to save me, they will never find us here. But if am wrong, that could be another round of beatings by Darth. She looked at Caprianna, sleeping peacefully and oblivious of what was going on, and she said to herself: My daughter is worth the risk. Then she began to scream as loud as she could.

Detective Luke was about to leave the cabin, feeling so dejected for he was so sure he would find Cinderlily or traces of her presence. His hands were on the door knob, when he heard it - the very faint sound of someone screaming. He followed the sound to a hidden door, behind a wardrobe, opening it he stepped onto a stairway that lead on to a loud basement. The voice was louder now, it was the voice of a female – still following her voice; he found himself behind a Steel Door, secured with a padlock. Finding an iron bar on the floor, he broke the padlock, unfastened the lock and opened the door. There was Cinderlily, obviously much older than her picture, standing as far away from the door as she could, just in case it was Darth that was coming for her.

My name is Luke Potter, I am a Police Officer, I have been searching for you for close to ten years now, don’t be afraid, the man that captured you has been captured - Darth Mort has been arrested and you are safe. As soon as he said this, as if on cue, he saw a pair of eyes peeping at him from behind Cinderlily. And then it registered that she must have had a child in captivity. Soon after, the medical team came in and took both mother and child to the hospital.

The news of the capture of the serial kidnapper, and the eventual release of Cinderlily was trending on all social media channels; however what the world worried about the most was how the 6 year old girl would survive and engage in this world being that she was born in captivity and her world was only a dark room. Experts in subjects of this nature gave their opinion and advice on this matter:

Child therapists and specialists in long-term trauma indicate that Caprianna White will face complicated challenges as she learns to navigate an entirely new universe, since the only world she had known was when she was in captivity. Even an abusive world can seem normal, especially to a child who was denied typical experiences such as school, health care and play time with other kids. Other experts say a child as young as 6 years has a good chance of overcoming such a traumatic early life, especially with the help of a supportive family and community; and specific targeted intensive therapy.

These are not insurmountable obstacles by any means, but they are things that must be dealt with and addressed, not in a single point of time, but as the child grows up and kind of encounters this world which is new to her. The girl will likely have to grapple with conflicting feelings, especially if she regarded Darth Mort as her father. Hostages and Victims of long term kidnappings often form bonds with their abusers over time, such trauma in early childhood will raise basic questions of identity.

There will also be the question of interacting with the wider (new) world, with an expected difficulty in countering messages ingrained since her birth. She is absolutely terrified of this new world that she doesn’t understand.

The good news according to these experts is since this child has been rescued, she can almost certainly be helped. The first step is to make the little girl feel safe and protected. The next step will be to help the child understand what has happened and to answer any questions she may have. Helping the child to desensitize herself from the event and experience by talking about it rather than burying it will also allow her to work through inaccurate thoughts that she may have had about what has happened and the new world around her.

THE END

My Submission...

I will start by saying something that may actually be hard to accept as the truth, but based on scripture, it is a sure truth: Everyone after Adam and Eve, were born into captivity of the Kingdom of darkness. Yep, I know, you don’t agree right? Just chill let me explain myself.

In the beginning God created the Heavens and the earth, meaning the heavens and the earth regardless of whatever has happened belongs to God. However, God in his wisdom decided to put the authority to dominate in the hands of man. Man is especially unique because He is a Spirit being (created in the likeness of God) and he has a body made out of the substance of the earth. With his continuing connection to God by his Spirit, Adam was able to communicate effectively with God, who in turn instructed him on matters concerning the earth. The body of man is the only force that can affect any change on the earth. Even the enemy needs the human body to operate within his kingdom.

The relationship between man and God I have learnt so far is fourfold.

(1) Creator or God/Creation relationship

(2) King or Entrepreneur/ Servant or Staff relationship

(3) Father/Son relationship

(4) Friend relationship (Like with Abraham)

Now, the relationship between Adam and God especially as it pertains to the earth is the King/Servant relationship, Where God through the obedience of man establishes his heavenly kingdom authority and purpose upon His earth. So, when God established the earth and commanded Adam to take full control, God was in essence establishing is kingdom on the earth. See:

Gen 1:27 – 30:  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

But the devil came, deceived man, and caused man to lose his relationship with God. Hence, the devil took the initiative to establish his kingdom on earth still through man. We know this is certain for during the temptation of Jesus, the devil unequivocally said so without Jesus asserting it as inaccurate. See:

Luke 4:5-7 “…And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the Kingdoms of the in a moment of time, And the devil said unto him (Jesus), All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will, I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.”

Jesus in his numerous teachings on the earth also made this assertion. “Repent for the Kingdom of God (or Heaven) is at hand!” He made reference to the Kingdom of God as often as 48 times in the book of Matthew alone (yeah, I counted!) and in most of these references he showed that the Kingdom of God was still to be established upon the earth.

However, God had been having dominion on the earth through what I like to call his secret weapon: Grace. You see, with sin in the life of Adam and his descendants, the devil was guaranteed that Man and God would not have any sort of relationship, because God is Holy. However, when God imputes grace on a man’s life, Grace covers the man’s sins. This we see in the case of Noah, who when God imputed grace upon was described as a righteous man amongst his peers. I believe it is with Grace that God used to establish His kingdom on His earth through Man. Like I wrote in the past, God started small in his plan of redemption for man, He started with One Man, Abraham. With Grace abounding, He was able to establish a relationship with Abraham, and upon Abraham he sewed the seed of the entrance of His Kingdom. The next thing God did was to establish a nation out of the seed of Abraham, the Nation of Israel, and with that nation God had a relationship, giving the people laws and the priesthood to serve as a type of His Heavenly Kingdom. God showed his power, might, authority and wealth through that nation. He worked through Prophets, Priests, Judges and Kings to serve as liaisons between Himself and the people. But the people were always faltering because sin had not been taken away from them. And then finally God extended his relationship to the whole earth, through Jesus, to establish his Kingdom upon the earth. For it is written: John 1: 29: The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.  

So God’s redemption plan flows like this:

Abraham – Nation of Israel – The Whole Earth

Jesus’ redemptive work gave man the opportunity to have a relationship with God, by removing sin from man. Jesus said:

Joh 3:3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Mat 8:12  "But the sons [and daughters] of the [earthly] kingdom [or, the kingdom [of Satan]] will be cast out into the outer darkness. In that place [there] will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!"

It is obvious by this scriptures that it is only when we become born-again that we are then translated into the Kingdom of God, and we are able to have a relationship with Him and through our obedience, God establishes His Kingdom authority, purpose and culture upon His earth.

Col 1: 13 – 22: Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

Need I say more?

Hence, that day we stood up and made the decision through the conviction of our hearts by the Holy Spirit, to be born again, we were rescued from the Kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light.

Thus, like Caprianna in the story above, who was also emancipated from a room which she knew as the only existing Kingdom or World, we also have to understand that even though we are in a new Kingdom we have to deal with certain things that we have learnt in the former Kingdom.

A man is a combination of Spirit, Soul and Body or I could say A Man is a Spirit with a Soul that resides in a Body. When we become born again, it is our Spirits that are reborn, that is we are born in the likeness of God’s Spirit. Apostle Paul said:

Gal 4:29 “…But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.”

It is the spirit of a man that interacts with the Spirit of God and there is transfer of data from God to man and vice versa.

The body also functions as a data collector. It collects data from the earth using the sensory organs. The body also is the one that acts on the earth.

The soul of man is said to be divided into three parts: The intellect or mind; the emotion; and the will. The mind is the logical part of man and it transfers data it receives to information through logic. The emotion, well, is the part of man that deals with passion, sensation, excitement etc it also processes data it receives into information. Now, both the mind and emotion transfers the processed information to the will. The will of man is what instructs the body to action.

Therefore, when we become born again there exists in my opinion four things we must consciously deal with. They include in no particular order:

(1) We have to unlearn the things we have learnt that pertains to the Kingdom we are coming from and we do this by renewing our minds by the word of God, gradually changing it to the logic of our new and present Kingdom. Apostle Paul explained: Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. He also said: Tit 3: 3 - 7  For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

    

What the experts (in the story) said of Caprianna is sometimes also true of some of us: Caprianna White will face complicated challenges as she learns to navigate an entirely new universe, since the only world she had known was when she was in captivity.” But by the power of the Word and the Holy Spirit we will overcome.

(2) Identify and deal with the emotional trauma and wounds that we received from living in the previous kingdom. Many Christians hide their emotional trauma and issues thinking it will just disappear because they are now born again, so they keep it hidden and bury it. When Paul said: “Php 3:13  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Forgetting doesn’t mean burying the past, forgetting is the end of a process that surely includes forgiving. Most times, this emotional trauma may need us to forgive someone or to forgive ourselves.

     What the experts (in the story) said of Caprianna may also be true of some of us: “The girl will likely have to grapple with conflicting feelings, especially if she regarded Darth Mort as her father. Hostages and Victims of long term kidnappings often form bonds with their abusers over time, such trauma in early childhood will raise basic questions of identity.” Thank God Jesus’ mandate includes an all round healing, including our emotions.

(3) Deal with all the injuries and wounds and sickeness in the body that will not allow it properly function on the earth. It is with our body that we can fulfill the mandate of God’s Kingdom on this earth. People, we must understand that God knows if you are sick, you will find it extremely difficult to act in obedience especially in fulfilling your God-given purpose on the Earth. Thank God that he made provision for us through revelation knowledge and also that by the stripes of Jesus we were healed.

(4) Get Educated on the Kingdom’s affairs. Just like a country as a government, laws, armed forces to defend the territory and to gain new territories, workers, currency, culture and so on, so does the Kingdom of God. No one can function properly in the kingdom without being educated about everything that has to do with it. For instance, if you do not understand the role of Faith in the Kingdom operations, you will probably get nothing done.

     In the story of Caprianna, imagine that immediately she got out of the hospital, she was put in school, and in the same class her age mates are in. Without prior education, she would fail miserably. She would not be able to communicate and learn. She would not be able to function all together without proper foundational education about the new world that she was now living in.

     God made provision for our proper education through the Holy Spirit, study of the Bible, and the five-fold ministry. Altogether, the Christian should be able to begin to learn about their new kingdom and how to properly navigate and function in it. However, the Christian must understand that just as it was his/her decision to be born again, they must also decide to be educated about the Kingdom to ensure he grows.

The Church plays a very key role in the development of the Christian, especially as it has to do with learning of the Kingdom of God. It is in the Church that the Christian is privy to members of the five-fold ministry – the Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, and Teacher, whose duty is to ensure the perfecting of the Saints (us).  It is also in the church that the ‘new’ Christian is able to experience the love of Christ which is very much needed. Just as the experts in the story of Caprianna said: “Other experts say a child as young as 6 years has a good chance of overcoming such a traumatic early life, especially with the help of a supportive family and community” In the case of the Christian, the church is that ‘supportive family and community’ that is needed to overcome the trauma of their previous lives.

The church is also the place where we get the foundational education about the Kingdom of God. This is the essence of the ‘Sunday School’ sessions that takes place in most churches, where the basics of the Kingdom of God is taught. 

Because of all these reasons and much more unstated, the church must be in one accord, in love, peace and unity. A person just delivered from a dysfunctional world, should not come to the Kingdom of God where they have been liberated to and still find the same or sometimes even worse dysfunction.

This second season of Raising Our Land is one where I pray that God teaches us to renew our minds, heal emotional traumas, heal our bodies and get educated about the Kingdom of God - of which we are all citizens of. I also pray that God reveals to us his incomparable love for us in ways so distinct that it would be forever etched in our memories.

We will not be able to raise our land (which really is taking possession of all that God has promised us being citizens of His Kingdom); keep our land and expand our land; without being dedicated to fulfilling our roles in the Kingdom of God.

Thank you for reading.

Based on feedback, which indicates that readers would prefer enough time in between episodes to be able to digest it very well in the midst of their very busy schedule, there will now be three (3) days interval between each episode. This means the next episode will be on Wednesday, 7^th of December, 2016.

You who have read this message and have not given your life to Christ maybe because you were born to a Christian home and you have attended church all your life, and so you feel it is not necessary but now something in you would not give you peace on this matter, I have been where you are, do not fret, the Holy Spirit is only doing His work in convicting you and admonishing you to give your life to Christ now. If you are that person just believe and say these words:

“I believe that Jesus Christ the Son of God is the Lamb of God who has taken away my sins by shedding his blood, and dying on the cross, I believe that God raised Him on the third day and He has ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father. I am now born again.”

Congratulations. You are now Born Again. Do join a Bible believing Church for you to continue to grow in Christ. Pray that God guides you to the church that will be best for your spiritual growth. This is very important!

I pray that we all become more intellectually and emotionally conscious of the Kingdom of God and His dominion upon the earth as we yield ourselves to Him for His use and for the continuing advancement of God’s Kingdom that His name may glorified in all the earth, In Jesus Name, Amen.

When this writing as blessed you in any way, please don't hesitate to give God all the Glory and also share this blog with your contacts as it will bless them too.

 

Thank you for sharing.

 

Please also write me about how this book has blessed you by sending me a mail via My Email Address

#News Alert: The New Project, click HERE for information.

#Tip: You can learn more about renewing of minds in a series of teachings by Pastor Poju Oyemade, Senior Pastor, Covenant Christian Center; titled: The Definite Steps to Building Neural Pathways.

Abundant Grace to us all,

‘Ladi Obidairo.